


hollywoof hills

by aqakita



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: F/F, Gen, I don't want to state relationships that I havent written yet, So I need to remember when I put them in, To fix the damn tags, cisgirl au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-05-03 12:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14569050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqakita/pseuds/aqakita
Summary: Welcome to Hollywoof Hills! A small animal practice where the staff have hearts of gold.





	1. announcement

**Author's Note:**

> this au means a lot to me and i've had so much fun writing this and the next chapter which is almost done!  
> for this chapter, its mostly introducing the first staff set, and setting up for the groomers joining the team.

“Hello! Hollywoof Hills Veterinary Surgery, Farrah speaking, how can I help you?”

That was the eighth time that chirpy phrase had left her lips today, and it was only 9.30am. They opened at 8am, and she couldn’t decide if this was a quiet day or not, as she scrolled through the on screen diary. A couple of morning ops, and only a few early appointments, but the day seemed to be picking up later.

“You want to book him in to be neutered today?” She asked, pulling a face to Sasha, who was pulling on the scrub top over her vest. She laughed a little, and sat down in the other receptionist seat.  
“Cat or dog?” She mouthed.  
“Cat.” Farrah mouthed back.  
“Tell him he can book pre-op check. Ask if he’s fed him.”  
“Okay, sir. Has he had anything to eat this morning?” She looked through the appointments, before stopping, “Okay, you have to starve him overnight before the op. Do you want to bring him down for a check up today, then we can see about booking him in later in the week?”

The vet looked quite pleased with her. Farrah was a new start, and she had been doing exceptionally well. It was maybe her second month of working here, having had limited prior experience (she’d done a few weeks in a pet shop), and when there was a client coming to collect their pet’s ashes, she proved to be excellent at consoling. As the phone was set down, she glanced over to the bald woman, clapping her hands together.  
“She’s coming at 4, she’s a bit rude though. I booked her in to see you, Jinkx has a busier afternoon.”  
“That’s fine. Is Jinkx not here yet?”  
“No, I wonder when-”

Before the question was finished, it was answered, as the door alarm chimed and Jinkx wandered through, followed by Major - a large golden retriever. They waved politely, coming through into the office and directing the dog up on the couch to join Vanya. In their arms, they carried a couple bags, one of which was from a nearby bakery, and they set those down on their desk.  
“I brought donuts if anyone wants them. Just take one whenever.” They wandered to stand behind Farrah, looking over her shoulder at the screen and frowning a bit, “Why is it your day for ops?” They directed to a smirking Sasha.  
“Because you got the exciting amputation on Friday, and I was stuck with the most frustrating microchipping in my life.”

Just as they were getting into the conversation, the two nurses rota-ed for today came in, laughing quite loudly between each other. Both dogs jumped up off of the couch, barking excitedly. While Jinkx held them back so they didn’t run out, Adore and Dela came through, and when the door was shut, the younger of the pair slumped onto the couch, cuddling the dogs who joined her. Dela leaned on the desk behind Sasha’s seat, and greeted her politely.  
“We’ve got ops today?”  
“Yes we do, got a cat spay and dog castrate.”  
“Not bad. Better than Friday.” Adore chided.  
“That was terrible…” Jinkx shook their head.

The first appointment was booked in for 10, when the cat coming in for its op would be checked over. Sasha had already checked the dog in, and he was ready to be given his premeds. The cat was her only appointment until post op; Jinkx would be covering the morning ones. It was quite a good way to keep the ball rolling, having one vet in morning theatre and the other running appointments. It meant emergencies weren’t as daunting. Just as she was getting comfortable, Manila came out from the meeting room, bidding farewell to an unfamiliar blonde with a clipboard, and a shirt with a logo on the back. Chad followed them out into the carpark, finalizing a conversation.

Sasha moved out of the chair to allow the actual receptionist to sit where she was supposed to. Her eyes were filled with a mix of excitement and slight worry, something natural in response to change.  
“So, why’s Chad here?” Adore asked, before asking the more pressing question of, “Who was that with Chad?”  
“That’s Katya, she’s a groomer. The big room? The one we use to store all the useless shit in? Well, Chad’s leasing it to them, so they can run their grooming business in it.”  
“You say they, who else?”  
“I think her name’s Trixie? I’ve never met her, Chad has though.”  
“Trixie Mattel?” Dela interjected, “I know her, I met her when we went to the vet show. She’s sweet.”  
“Yeah, her!” Manila hit her hand on the desk, stressing a point, and the dogs looked up, startled.

After a moment’s consideration, Jinkx asked, “So, when are they joining us?”  
“Well, they finalized the paperwork, so in a few weeks, I think. They’ve got stuff to move in.” She glanced towards the front door, “Technically I’m not meant to be telling you this yet, but I am. Chad’s gonna come in here and explain it all again, so, sorry. We have a full meeting about it on Thursday, I need to block it out.”  
Her attention was now on the screen, setting it across the diary that between 12 and 1 there would be no appointments that day. “You all have to be here, by the way. Like you have to come in for it, but she says you’ll be paid.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the door chime, and Chad was holding it open now for an anxious cat owner, who’s siamese was screaming in its carrier. Sasha hurried off into her consult room, not wanting to be seen behind the desk as that would make the owner impatient. She’d best look through her notes anyway. As the client was checked in, the staff thought it best to at least try and busy themselves. While the woman was here, Chad headed into the meeting room again. Dela pushed off the wood counter, and went to dose up and deliver the dog’s premeds. Over Farrah’s shoulder, she checked the cat’s weight, but decided against setting her dose up in case it had changed too much.

While Manila made conversation with the woman in the waiting room, batting her eyelashes sweetly and reassuring her that the cat would be fine, Farrah walked off, going to see Jinkx. They were scrolling through their laptop, and pushed the packet of donuts towards the hungry girl, who quite happily took one.  
“You’ve got a lot booked in for this afternoon, including at like 6 o’clock, a PTS. I am sorry, I tried to get them to book it earlier but they weren’t having it. I reminded them that if the dog gets worse, we can push forward.”  
“What dog is it again?” They leaned forward on an elbow, looking up at her.  
“Milo, big German Shepherd, one of his hips gave out and he can’t walk anymore.”  
“Have they signed the documents yet or are they doing it when they get here?”  
“They need to sign them still.”  
“Crem or burial?”  
“Crem.”

Jinkx pulled a face that, when they were a new vet, they always felt bad for. Now, used to the coming and going of many an animal, they didn’t feel as guilty for the reaction as long as it wasn’t done to a client. A big dog meant a pain in the ass to bag and carry down to the cold room. It was, for some reason of horrible design, at the end of the corridor, and a dog over 30 kilos was always a multi person job. Plus, they had to do it carefully, should the client change their mind before their dog was sent off.  
“I know, I’m sorry. I think he’s one of Max’s cases though? I read the notes, he’s a nice dog. Shouldn’t try and bite or anything.”  
“Alright, good. I’ll bring Adore in with-” They paused, calling Adore over, “We have a PTS at 6. You need to come in with me.”  
“I’ve got a weight clinic at 5.40. I’ll be done in time but do you want me to prep for the dog in advance?”  
“Please.”  
“Remind me at 5.”

“First appointment is at 11.30, by the way,” Farrah noted, initially going to leave with donut, remembering someone was there, and stopping awkwardly. Shielding herself somewhat with a banner for flea treatment, she leered over at Manila, who kept tapping her nails loudly on the desk. A bit of the pastry was thrown at her neck, and flinching, she stopped. That wasn’t worth it, she’d have to hoover that up later, unless one of the dogs ate it. Called over by Adore, she shifted up onto the couch, having Vanya crawl up onto her lap.  
“Would Sasha kill me for giving him a bit?”  
“Yeah, she definitely would,” Adore smirked, ripping a piece of the confection off for herself.  
“Haven’t you got things to do?”  
“Not til 12, thank fu… Thank goodness.” It was hard to remember to sound polite when there were people waiting. When she went to snatch another bit, Farrah pulled the food back, but tore a little bit off, and fed her it.  
“You’re like a human puppy. I give you treats, and you shut up.”

The phone ringing broke them out of the relaxed state on the couch, and the younger receptionist glanced over, making sure that Manila would get it. Good, the phone was answered, but in some horrible irony, the other phone went off minutes after. Groaning, giving the rest of her snack to Adore, she got off the couch and back into the computer chair, answering the phone in her sweetest voice. During this, the cat was called through for the appointment.

After these calls, Farrah’s being about coming to pick up flea treatment, things seemed to quieten down again. The main noises were the dog shifting around in its cage in the back, Dela’s muffled, indiscernible voice, and the conversation in the consult room, interjected occasionally by a screaming cat.  
“I’ll put money on that op being cancelled because she’s in heat.” Adore chided from her seat. Jinkx leaned back and smirked at her.

And, like predicted, the owner came out to rebook. The girls on reception made teasing comments at the cat, making the situation a little bit jokey to make the owner feel better about it. Farrah, who was sorting the appointment, summarised again what she had been told by the vet, and booked the cat in for two weeks time, when it should have ended. There was no charge for the day, as the pre-op checks were free anyway, but the owner seemed relieved about it. As they waved her off, and she exited into the car park, they were rejoined by Dela.  
“Cat’s gone home, in season.”  
“Knew it!” Adore yowled.  
“Good thing I didn’t prep for her then.” The older nurse chided, taking a seat on the arm of the couch.

In this brief lull, the wait before they actually sedated the dog, everyone took a second to relax. While Jinkx was sorting out some of their CPD on the laptop, Sasha went through her bag to take out an energy bar. Eating in this job was largely done in small amounts, through the day, whenever there was a chance. On quieter days, it was different, as usually someone would volunteer to go pick up some form of fast food. The nurses were discussing the puppy party they planned to run this Friday, and just as Dela mentioned having to clear it with Chad, she showed up on the other side of the receptionist desk, saying it was fine.

“Are the vets there?” She asked, and hearing a muffled ‘yes’ from Sasha’s full mouth, she asked them to come round to the front. Once everyone was in eye shot, the head vet explained to them, “Next month, on the 4th, we’ll be having some groomers joining the team. They’re a separate business, and we’re leasing the big room to them, but they’ll bring us a lot more customers, hopefully. I know it seems unfair to ask, but if any of you get a chance, I need you to clear the room out.”  
“Do the others know yet?” Manila interjected, slightly hopeful that they could leave it to them, before remembering that Chad herself worked tomorrow.  
“I’ll send an email out when I get back home. Also, and it’ll be in the email, you have to all be here by 12 on Thursday, when we’ll have a proper meeting about it. Does anyone need anything before I go?”  
With a collective, polite ‘no’, the woman bid them farewell, leaving them to the rest of their day.


	2. brutus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a dog comes in after eating a hedgehog. theres some tension between some of the staff.

“Max, I have terrible news,” Courtney called as soon as the tall vet came through to the office, “They said goodbye to Milo yesterday.”  
Max sat down on the edge of the couch with a frown on her face, sipping at the coffee from her thermos. That dog had been her first real case here, and as a recently qualified vet, and it was heartbreaking that she wasn’t here to see him out.  
“Jinkx did the appointment last thing yesterday. His owners were going to wait for today, but they didn’t think it’d be fair on the poor boy.”  
“No, they were right,” Sighing, she added, “We discussed doing it about two weeks ago, but they wanted to give him a little longer. Are they having his ashes back?”  
“Yeah, in a beech casket too.”  
“Hopefully I’ll be here when we get him back. I will call them in a moment.”

What a sad start to the day this was, but then again, it was a part of the job. Her fingers of her free hand fanned through her grey locks, and she stared over to the door.  
“How busy is my morning?”  
“You’ve had a no-show,but it was just for a health check pre-flea treatment. You’re in consults this morning - you’ve got a litter of… six labradors for vax and chipping. That’s booked for 40 minutes. Then, after that, cat with a lump on its neck, a nail trim with a dog, and then your friend Fame’s bringing Mina in for a teeth check.”  
“A good morning then. When’s my first?”  
“Half an hour.”  
“…Where is my nurse?”

A decent question, seen as Milk was nowhere to be seen. Also, neither was Alyssa, who should have been on reception. Seen, they weren’t, but heard, suddenly, they were, as laughter spilled out from the kitchen. They’d be getting some breakfast before anyone came in, so there was no point chasing either of them up yet. After a few moments, they showed themselves, carrying tea and toast. Alyssa took up her seat, leaning back on it against the wall and grinning. Milk slumped down on the couch, tapping Max’s hip.  
“Our baby crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday…”  
“Courtney filled me in. I’ll miss him.”  
“For a dog who could barely walk, he sure was a character.”

-

Whilst the others remained in the office, Phi Phi and Chad had the exciting job of trying to prep a disgruntled English Mastiff for an ultrasound. All the equipment was set up, and a big blanket was down, which the dog was standing on quite well. He was behaving decently to start with, but as soon as Chad would turn on the clippers, he would thrash. Phi Phi’s grip on the massive, muscular dog was strong, and she could stop him from getting away, but she couldn’t easily keep him still. When they could hear a somewhat strained, stressed breathing, they took a moment.

Holding the dog on the slip lead, Phi Phi stood beside him, gently petting his head. They were lucky he was a sap, and he’d not growled once. This big monster was named Brutus, which his owners had made many a joke about. He couldn’t, and wouldn’t, hurt a fly.  
“I think we might need someone as a backstop.” The nurse suggested.  
“Yeah. I don’t want to sed him, it’ll cost his poor mum a lot more money than she’s already dishing out.”  
“Milk’s not as good with big dogs. Should we just get Max?”  
“Is she free?”  
“Should be. No appointments til 10.20.”

As much as she was trying to be calm, Phi Phi was getting immensely frustrated. She had been working with the head vet for a few months, having swapped to work with her when Max joined the team, replacing the old vet. It was easier to put Max and Milk together, both more recently qualified, to allow them to learn each other’s workstyles, and to let them do some of the simpler things until they’d found their feet. She understood that. However, she was now rota-ed to work with the person who could fire her if she fucked things up. She knew it would be unlikely - Chad was sweet and patient and respected her staff - but it was still a concern. So, whenever things got a little out of hand, such as an uncooperative dog, she started to stress.

“We’ll give him one more go with just us,” The vet decided, crouching down on the floor, readying the clippers. Phi Phi joined her, and securing the dog in a comfortable hold, gently scratching at his neck to keep him comfortable, she gave Chad the nod to start.  
“Just run the clippers with the noise for a minute or two,” She suggested, and though the sound startled the dog at first, when the shearing didn’t come immediately, he started to settle.  
“I’m going to shave him now, get ready incase he bolts.”  
“Okay.” The dog jolted when the clippers hit, but he seemed far less frantic. This was a huge relief.

“That was a good suggestion,” Chad praised, turning off the clippers and wiping down the dog’s stomach, “I wouldn’t have thought of that.”  
“Yeah, well… That’s how I got my dogs used to the hoover.” With a nervous laugh, she glanced over at the screen, “You know, we said we don’t want to sed him, but if he does have a blockage, we’ll still have to.”  
“God, yeah. I hope he’s just got a bit of a poorly stomach, and that’s it. His owners were worried about paying for this.”  
“I’d say that’s why you should get insurance, but for his size and breed? That’s a big cost per month.”  
“But it saves you the bigger cost when these things happen.”  
“It’s a shame, because they’ve had him a long time now. They’ve fallen on bad times though, like I was taking to his owners on the phone, and the woman was saying that her husband’s lost his job now.”

They fell into a silence as the gel was rubbed over the skin, and the dog whined, cold and uncomfortable. Phi Phi hushed him, keeping him close as the the gelled up scanner touched his skin, and his insides came up on screen. They were glancing over the display, but soon enough, something was wrong.  
“You see that, there,” Chad pointed to a shadow on the screen, brows creased with concern, “That doesn’t look right. They told me in the consult they’d had to pull him off some roadkill.”  
“Do you think it’s a spine?”  
“Yep. It doesn’t look like its perforated the lining but it’s hard to see on the screen. We’ll have to x-ray.”  
“Fuck. Okay. You want to look over him some more?”  
“No, put him back in his crate, I’ll go phone his owners up.”

-

“Alyssa, can I use your phone?”  
“Of course you can girl, you want a coffee?”  
“Thank you. You know how I take it?”  
“What do you take me for?” She headed out of the room, tailed by a frazzled Phi Phi, who wanted a drink herself.  
When they were in the kitchen, Alyssa chided, “So, are you gonna be my friend today, or are you gonna get rude with me again?”

Phi Phi frowned, stepping toward the kitchen window, feeling a bit guilty. Last Thursday, after a particularly frustrating day, she’d lost her temper with the Texan, and since then, she hadn’t apologized. She’d followed after to get a drink, but also with the intent of saying something about it.  
“Now, you’re lucky that I’m too nice to be telling tales.” She punctuated the statement by flicking the kettle on, “‘Cause Phi, I know you’re better than that.”  
“I know… I’m sorry. It’s just I-”  
“Uh, uh. No. I don’t want to hear no excuses. You don’t get to shout at me in that office. All I did was you if you’d mopped the consult room, and you had your little temper tantrum.”

While a part of her bristled, urged to defend herself under the criticism, she knew that Alyssa was right. Breathing in deep, she dug her nails hard into the palm of her hand. Anger was always one of her biggest hurdles, and while she could hold it back around even the worst behaved animals that she was faced with, she was terrible at restraining around people. It made talking to difficult clients something she sought to avoid. Getting a coke from the fridge, she looked over to the older woman.  
“I’m sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn’t have done that, you didn’t deserve it.”  
“Thank you.”  
Uncomfortable, and a little embarrassed, Phi Phi left the room soon after that.

Something Alyssa had learned in her time here, working with the temperamental nurse, was that dealing with her wasn’t unlike dealing with her own children. While they were now all adults, they were close matched in age, and all fairly intense personalities. None of her kids would really shout at her anymore, but they’d had their fair share of arguments and strops, and having raised them largely on her own, she’d had to learn to deal with it. So, Phi Phi was hardly a threat, or a concern.

With the drinks, Chad’s coffee and her own tea, she made her way back to the office, setting the cup down and receiving a quiet ‘thank you’. Since the vet was still on the phone, and in her chair, she stood by Courtney, who was just finishing a call of her own. As the phone clicked down onto the holder, she spun in her chair, smiling.  
“Hello again, I forgot what we were talking about when you got kicked out of your chair.”  
“I believe we were talking about who those new groomers were.”  
“I haven’t seen them but Adore did text about one of them.”  
“Oh, what did she say, girl?”  
“Well, her text described her as ‘blonde and scary but kind of cute’ so I was a little lost?”  
“I need to know more.”

As Chad hung up the phone and left, Alyssa re-took her seat, concerned for a second at the lack of speech. That was dismissed quickly as she opened her emails, scrolling through.  
“So I have a plan. We got sent an email about this and I know it had their names on it. I’m thinking, we look them up on facebook.”  
“Why didn’t I think of that?” Courtney scowled a bit, though she rolled the chair closer so she could see Alyssa’s screen a little better, “Oh, look at Shangela in that pic, she’s beautiful.”  
“And she knows it,” She nodded, the look of a proud mother on her face, “But I know she didn’t come home looking that nice.”  
“Her mother’s daughter.”  
She just turned her head, eyes wide, brows raised, mouth agape, feigning shock at the comment, “You cheeky bitch.”

They only needed to look up Trixie to find a picture of them both. Her icon had them in it, with the flower filter, though Katya was pulling an ugly face, and Trixie was looking sweet as syrup. Nodding, they found themselves nosying through a few of their pictures, interrupted only by the back of their chairs being shook by Milk.  
“First of all, the younger one is cute,” She pointed to Trixie, “Second of all, Chad and Phi are going into theatre right now, they’re taking a spine out of a dog’s gut, if that’s what it is, so they’ll be x-raying down there for a bit. One of them’ll shout when they’re done, but Max and I are gonna see the puppies in the meeting room.”  
“Okay, thank you.”

-

The x-ray showed what they didn’t really want - there was, genuinely, a spine in the dog’s intestines. It looked like it wasn’t completely perforating the bowel, but it was definitely stuck, and acting as a blockage. At least he was already under anaesthetic from the x-ray. Moving him on the carrier to the prepped surgery table, the main option was to operate. They’d fully prepped for this, just in case. After nipping out to update Brutus’ owners on the situation, Chad proceeded with the op.

When the obstruction was removed, along with a small segment of the large intestine, they ended up discussing how long to keep the dog in with them. It was settled that if he was coming round well by the end of the day, they would discharge with frequent rechecks. If not, they would keep him in overnight for observation by the on-call vet (which, tonight, was fortunately Chad). Once they’d settled Brutus into his crate to recover, Phi Phi cleaned up theatre, while the vet watched the Mastiff come round.

Just as she finished mopping, Chad stuck her head around the door.  
“You done?”  
“Yeah, pretty much.” As she ran the mop over the doorway, she returned it to the storage room, “Why?”  
“Can you come look at him for a second?”  
As they went back into the room, Phi Phi burst out laughing at the dog’s goofy face, tripped out on his sedatives, tongue lolling, saggy face drooping, “Oh, bless him.”  
“Right, at… 3pm, if he’s doing well, he can have a few teaspoons of the digestive support food.”  
“I’ll put it on his paperwork.” She went over to jot it down, “Right, back to normal stuff and just check him?”  
“Sounds sensible, I’ll get the others to do the same.”

Fortunately for sweet Brutus, he was discharged that evening, but with strict instructions, a request to be brought back tomorrow, and he was booked in with Jinkx.


	3. checkup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> brutus comes in for his post op check. some bonds are starting to form.

It was a quiet day today. There weren’t many appointments booked, and all the calls so far had been to book things in later that week. The phone wasn’t even ringing much, and while you’d think that would be a nice thing for the two on reception, it was not. Since they didn’t have anything to do, they’d both been asked to sort the Pet Health Plan monthly flea treatments. It was a lot of checking info, labelling, and putting things in packets. Farrah looked frustrated and restless, and Manila looked like she was ready to end it.

“Why can’t the nurses do this?” The pink haired girl mewled, “They all have to sign them off anyway.”  
“I know! We have other things to do.”  
“Like what?” Adore barked, having been sat at her desk, “I don’t see you handling any animals, or having to do a fuckload of paperwork.”  
“You wouldn’t have a ‘fuckload of paperwork’ if you filled it in when you got it,” Manila cockily returned, and yelped when a pen lid hit her neck, “Oi! Don’t throw things. I’ll tell on you.”  
“You’ll tell on me? Good luck, Jinkx loves me and Max can’t touch me.”  
“Go back to your paperwork, Delano.”

They fell into a quiet again, making small talk over the crinkle of plastic packets. Then, a moment of salvation - the door alarm rung as someone came through. It was Brutus, his saggy lips slobbering, and his bald belly swinging. For someone who’d had a major bowel op, he was looking pretty happy.  
“There’s our hedgehog eater!” Farrah cooed as she stood up, before glancing up at the person walking him. She didn’t recognise them at all, having only ever seen this dog with a middle aged woman, but she noticed that they were much prettier than the typical owner, and definitely younger.  
“What’re you looking at?” They said with a biting tone, though their face followed it with a smirk.  
“Sorry, I’ve only seen him with your… mum?”  
“Yeah, she made me bring him in today.”

There was a brief pause, Farrah still getting a grip on herself. They were quite cute, and though they were coming off a little brusque, she wanted to know more. However, she did need to do her job, and eventually asked, “Can you just put him on the scales?”  
“Why? He’s not gonna have lost weight since yesterday.”  
“I don’t know, but I’m told I have to ask anyone who comes in with a dog to get their weight.”  
After pulling a face, they put the canine up on the scales, calling over, “84.5 kilos, the fat fuck.” They affectionately pet his side, “What was he yesterday?”  
“He was 84.5 kilos.” She returned.  
“Told you.”  
“Take a seat, Miss Kween.”  
“Ew, don’t. Call me Aja.” With that, they wandered off to the chairs, large dog lumbering after.

When Farrah turned back to Manila, she caught her sniggering at her. Pulling a face, she tried to go back to sorting the flea treatment, but there was a fluster on her face, and she kept glimpsing up at the person sat on the chairs, pretty chilled out, fussing the dog and telling him how handsome and brave he was. When Jinkx came out to call them through into the consult, they greeted them pleasantly, like they knew each other. As soon as that door closed, the dark haired receptionist started on Farrah.

“Look at you getting all nervous!”  
“Fuck all the way off.” She was quick to snap, “So what? I didn’t expect to see anyone my age, or cute, this morning.”  
“You think they’re cute?”  
“I don’t not think that, leave me alone,” Whining, she threw one of the empty flea treatment boxes at her.  
“Why is everyone chucking things at me?”  
“We wouldn’t if you weren’t annoying,” Adore chimed, getting up to join Jinkx in the consult, realising she was meant to follow.  
Once she was gone, Farrah mumbled, “Even if I do think sh-”  
“They.”  
“-They’re cute, they’re a client, I’m not really gonna get a chance.”  
“You never know.” She smirked, “We’ll see what happens when they come back out.”

-

Max was a very polite woman. Politeness was something she’d prided herself on, particularly in this line of work, where you sometimes did have difficult clients. This pre-op check, however, was testing her a little bit. The cat was fine, it was a young male, 5 months old, in for a castrate. He was the right weight for the operation, so that wasn’t an issue. He was looking healthy and happy - or at least, as happy as a Persian could look. In fact, he would be the perfect pet to operate on, until she noticed that in his fur, there was some cat food.

It was necessary to ask anyway, though it was now a lot more important to do it.  
“Has he had any breakfast?”  
“I had to give him something, he kept meowing for food.”  
“So he has eaten this morning?”  
“Yes.” The owner seemed a little irate at the questioning.  
Max took a deep breath, trying not to show the annoyance she felt, “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to operate today. When you booked him in, you were informed that he must have food withdrawn the night before, at 8pm.”  
“But I can’t just not feed him! It’s cruel!”

For a moment, she considered getting someone else into the room. She considered seeing if Jinkx was free, because they were a more seasoned vet, and they must have dealt with this before. But Max couldn’t always go running for help, and after a moment’s consideration, she re-explained the exact risks she’d listed for the owner three days ago when the cat was booked in.  
“The anaesthetic can make the cat feel poorly, and it can make them vomit. Because of that, we need them to come in on an empty stomach so that they don’t vomit while unconscious on the table, as they can then end up choking, and in many cases, it can kill them. We can rebook you in for later this week, but please, you must not feed him after 8pm the night before the operation.”  
“Fine. I better not have to pay for this waste of time appointment.”  
“The pre-op check is free.” Putting the cat back in the basket, she saw the owner off. Milk quickly slipped into the room, saying a quick goodbye to the client.

As soon as the door was shut, Max pulled a face in the direction of where the owner exited. Perhaps it was immature, but it got a light laugh from her nurse, who sprayed down the table and scales with disinfectant. It wasn’t much, but it saved the vet the hassle of wiping things down before another appointment.  
“The dog for its dental’s here, you want me to start setting up in prep for him?”  
“I’d say yes but I don’t know yet if his owner knows how to follow instructions.”  
“I’ll do it anyway,” Milk laughed, “Try not to get too stressed out, if anything, it gives us essentially a free break to catch up on stuff.”

-

Not long after the cat went, and the dog came through, Aja left the consult room, slobbering Brutus lumbering behind them, elizabethan collar clanging loudly on the doorframe on the way out to reception. He was healing well, and they’d been instructed to just keep a close eye on him, and to bring him back again the next day.  
As they came up to book in again, Farrah near scurried out from the vet’s desk area, where she’d been meaninglessly flipping through worming packets, trying to actually manifest some confidence.

“How’s he doing?” She cooed, sitting in her chair and leaning forward on the wood.  
“Well, his insides are still in him, so that’s good. And he’s not too inflamed around them or anything. They said I’ve gotta bring him back tomorrow?”  
“Of course,” she opened to book an appointment, “Is 9.40 tomorrow okay?”  
“Should be fine, yeah.” After a pause, punctuated by taking one of the business cards, they asked, “You working tomorrow?”  
“Yeah - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday are my days.”  
“Guess I’ll see you in the morning then.” With a smirk, Aja waved with their free hand as they headed outside.

When they’d walked out, Farrah turned toward Manila with an incredulous expression. She didn’t want to be getting her hopes up, but there was something promising about the way they asked about her shifts. It could have been just pleasant conversation, but that wasn’t what she wanted it to be. There wasn’t much time for chatting about it though, as the phones were quick to provide an interruption. The black haired receptionist picked up, leaving the other to turn to speak with a bored Adore, who was now on the couch, cuddling a dozy Major.

“Did you finish the paperwork?”  
“Fuck no,” She snorted, “I have to get Jinkx to double check like all of it as well.”  
“How much you got left?”  
“Not a lot but it’s all stuff to be signed off. I’ve filed a few things away though.”  
“You’ve only got 2 appointments and they’re both after 5, so you have to go clean the groomer’s room out.” She grinned as soon as the woman groaned.  
“How many appointments Jinkx got?” Moving off the couch, she looked over Farrah’s chair, chin resting on the back of it, “Oh they’ve got like a free morning. They’re helping me now then.”

-

This room was full of just any old garbage. There were rusted dog crates, a broken cat basket, half a broken computer chair, a fold away table that was for some reason not folded away, and several boxes and bags of decorations. A couple of boxes in the corner, it turned out much to Jinkx’s delight, was full of leashes and collars, clearly put here as spares, which were quite needed. They had a couple of slip leads on the hangers by prep, but they were worn through, and several of them had just disappeared.

Adore was currently focused on the unopened packages with ‘VET BED’ scrawled over them in scruffy writing. This room had clearly been meant for storing things they needed, but most of it had gotten completely forgotten about. Opening the box, it was full of the soft wooly bedding, which she decided she would suggest to Chad to use in replacement of the old, overwashed strips of it they were using. There was a lot of the new stuff, so much so that she checked it was from their own order, and not for the groomer. It was delivered a year ago.

“There’s a lot of good stuff in here,” Jinkx mused, “but there’s also a whole lot of… junk?”  
“You’re free for ages, and Max just has one op, should we take some of this shit out to the dump?”  
“Why not? It’ll probably take until lunch, so I guess it’s McDonalds today.”  
“Fuck yeah! We offering to anyone else to pitch in for it or are we just getting it for us?”  
“I’ll go ask them now, you start moving stuff nearer the door so we can get it out quicker.”

As Jinkx left, she focused quite intently on rearranging the room. This wasn’t Adore’s favourite type of job, tidying up was boring and exhausting and she’d rather be doing something more productive, but the promise of food was good incentive. Plus, she absolutely loved going in the car with Jinkx, as silly as it sounded, because it was always fun. Even if they were going on the worst home visit, the car ride was light and entertaining. Dragging the broken chair to be beside the door, she hoped this wouldn’t take too long, now excited to get out. When Jinkx was back, they helped drag everything toward the door. Once they’d sorted what was going in the tip, they encouraged Adore to help load the car.

-

Sat on the floor in front of one of the kennels, Max was doing the fun job of hand feeding a dog wet food. She’d been warned by the owner that he would wolf it down, so to try and prevent him from aspirating it, she elected not to just leave a bowl of food in his crate, as was the usual protocol. Originally, she’d offered it on a spoon, but he was clanking his gums off it and whining, so the best option was feeding him by hand. Sure, she had a rubber glove on, but she didn’t find it any less disgusting. Milk slumped down beside her, greeting the greedy yorkie with a polite hello.

“For someone whose hands have been inside of animals, you’d think I could manage this without feeling ill.”  
“Well, animal insides aren’t usually cold.” Nudging her elbow, she offered, “I’ll feed him, if you want.”  
“No, it’s fine, I’m getting used to it.” Max smiled a little towards her, before focusing again on the dog.  
After a pause, Milk asked, “How long you been working here? 4 months now?”  
“I think so, it’s gone by fast…”  
“Chad was really proud of you, you know. You’ve come on quick for someone so new.”  
“It wasn’t really a choice, I couldn’t be bad at it, or I’d be out of a job.”  
“Take the secondhand compliment.”

When the dog was fed, they both decided to hang around the in the room, mostly to make sure the little canine kept his food down. Max had brought her laptop in, and was sat at the prep table, making notes on the yorkie’s file. Milk was now restocking the syringe cupboard, having noticed when prepping the pup that they were running low of 1mls.

“We aren’t shifted for tomorrow, right?”  
“We never work thursdays, but we have to come in at lunch for a meeting.”  
“That’s enough time to recover - you want to go out for drinks tonight?”  
Max raised a brow, “I suppose, who else is going?”  
“Adore, Farrah, some girls I know from outside of here.”  
“Alright, sure.”

-

At closing up time, everyone was more than ready to go. Adore had hurt her wrist in moving things out of the car, but had got by her day alright, and was still planning on going on the night out. There was a stray dog handed in, which was reunited last minute, and the owner was kind enough to put a donation in the Guide Dogs box. Farrah was making her last Pet Health Plan call for the day, and when the phone clicked down into place, she cried a loud hurrah, pushing away from the desk to go and pet Major.

“Your turn to cash up tonight ‘Nila!”  
The door swung open, and in walked Raja. With a snidy tone, Manila turned to the girl on the couch, “Joke’s on you, my ride’s here.”  
“Didn’t realise I was your Uber driver now, as well as your personal shopper and all around slave.”  
“You knew what you were getting into when you asked me to get with you, that’s all I’m saying.”

As she gathered her bag and coat, she pointed to the til, “I cleared it with Chad that I could leave early, so this is actually your problem now. See you tomorrow at 12!”  
When Manila and her partner left, Farrah flipped her off, returning to the desk, but calling the dog with her. If she was going to have to tediously count money, she was having a canine friend to help her. She would have asked Adore, but she was even worse at getting the cashing up done. Knowing she’d be having a miserable time, and done writing up their notes, Jinkx came to sit with her.

“You count the notes, I’ll count the change.”  
“Thanks Jinkxy!” Now that the ginger was here, the dog had abandoned her to sit by his owner. With the two of them doing the job, it was a lot quicker, and it also meant she didn’t have to wait around for someone to sign off on the amount.  
“So, I seen you talking to Aja, do you know them?”  
“No, I’d only seen their mum here. Do you know them?”  
“They come to the group I run in the art centre, they’ve been coming for about a year.”  
“Really?” Farrah tilted her head, “What’re they like?”  
“When they let down the front, they’re sweet. But they like to come off… I wouldn’t say tough, but you get what I mean?”  
Nodding, Farrah closed the envelope, signing it, and pushing it over to Jinkx, who did the same. It was then put in the locked draw.

“What night does your group run again?”  
“It’s on Fridays, from 8pm to 10pm, and also Saturday, from 4pm til 8pm.” The group Jinkx hosted in the art centre was an LGBTQ+ support group, mostly for people to make friends, and get advice. They also hosted fundraisers from time to time, and it was something they’d become proud of. It had been running for 6 years now, and they’d been running it since the start.  
“I might start coming again.” Farrah used to go; that was a leading factor in her getting this job. She’d met Jinkx there 3 years ago, and attended the group for a year. In that time, she’d lost her original job, and they let her know almost as soon as they found out that there was a vacancy for a receptionist position. She’d been here ever since. She only stopped going to the group when she’d started a night class.

When everyone was ready to leave, all having changed into their non-work clothes, the going out girls converged into a group outside as Farrah locked up. A sweet routine that had started was that before Jinkx put him into the car, Major would go around to everyone who’d finished so he could get a fuss before he left. As Jinkx drove away, they would wave out the window, and Major would jump up at the the back seat windows, looking out with a dropped jaw and a happy face. Once the vet’s car out of sight, the girls hit the pub.


	4. the meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the meeting regarding the groomers happens. brutus comes back. sasha delivers some news.

It was meeting day, and everyone was crammed into the room around the folding table, in the variety of repurposed chairs and stools. Farrah was squeezed into an old computer chair with Sasha, currently hiding her face in her shoulder and whimpering. As it turned out, going out for drinks and getting a little wild on a work night was a horrible idea, and her head was pounding. Milk was looking worse for wear, Adore looked like she was dying, and Max looked exhausted, but better off than the other girls that had been out that night. They were lucky; they could go home and sleep after this. Farrah would have to answer the screaming of the phones and talk to people all day. Plus, she was rota-ed with Alyssa, who hardly knew what quiet was. 

While Chad was setting up, there were some mixed pockets of chatter going on around the table. The wireless phone in the room had been set up so the receptionists wouldn’t have to walk back and forth for calls, but it hopefully wouldn’t go off too much during the meeting, especially since they had some guests arriving. No one else had actually been warned of this, so when two blondes came into the room, everyone was aptly puzzled. Those who’d seen Katya the first time recognized her, and those who looked her up on Facebook recognised them both.

Regardless, they came to the front of the room near Chad, saying a quick hello. They were both in their uniforms, which was comprised of a polo top with the company name and logo embroidered on the back, and over the breast on the left side. One of them, the one in the heavier makeup, squealed excitedly when she saw Dela, moving over to greet her with a hug. If it wasn’t a stranger in the room, all four of the girls laboured with a hangover would have thrown something at her. Sweetly, Sasha covered Farrah’s ears against the noise. The other three had to just suffer, grumbling between each other.

As she was called back over, Trixie pouted a little, reluctant to leave her catch up with Dela. Katya appeared to be surveying the room, looking at the many faces. Everyone looked pretty friendly, bar the ones who were clearly feeling rough today. Despite being in the grooming business for 10 years, and attending most of the vet meets for advice and in search of a business partnership, she didn’t seem to recognise anyone here. She felt a little nervous to be up in front of everyone, and more worried by the fact that they were here now to give a presentation about their grooming company. They’d already sold the pitch to Chad, she’d not imagined having to come in front of a group and do it all again.

Trixie didn’t seem to have an ounce of worry about her, a brightness in her big blue eyes and a grin across her lips. Though they were here to be professional, she kept getting distracted, caught up in conversations when she was supposed to be preparing to speak. As Chad cleared Katya to start, she tried to subtly get the blonde’s attention back, and once she did, she turned her own attention to the projector screen on the wall. Everyone was looking up at her, and the powerpoint, and it made her feel a little queasy, but she knew she’d have to push through it.

“Good afternoon,” That felt too formal, but she’d already said it, “My name is Katya Zamolodchikova, this is Trixie Mattel.”   
“Hi!” She waved sweetly when she was introduced, trying to work out where she should be looking.   
“So, our company, Pampered Paws, is going to be operating out of the room next door to this. We’re a fairly established groomers, but we’ve been running out of my garage and with an increase in clients, it only seemed appropriate to set up shop somewhere better.” She kept second guessing what she was saying, feeling like that was a brag about the business, “Hopefully, with us being here, it’ll bring a new customer base to this surgery.”

As the slide changed, she was immensely relieved that it was now the younger woman’s turn to speak.   
“So, we bring a lot of different services,” Her voice was bouncy and quite loud, and she gestured to the screen, “Including using petsafe dyes! We make sure to buy and use only natural products, and carefully screen what’s used, in order to avoid anyone’s pets having a reaction to it. If anyone here’s got a pet they’d like to see in pink, let us know!”  
“Something else we’re bringing to the table,” Katya followed, “Is grooming with sedation. The price based off of the drugs will be paid to your practice, and then the add on for whatever service was wanted will go to us. To the vets, you can advertise our service to clients, but it goes without saying, it needs to be agreed through us.”

With a few more bases covered in introduction, including the rent fees they were paying, what day of the month those would be paid on, and confirming the moving date, their presentation was done, and Chad directed them to take a seat. She seemed fairly pleased with the presentation. Once she’d finalised some points, the meeting was closed, and people started getting up to leave. Max, Milk and Adore were out of the door like a shot, all pretty desperate to get home and sleep off their hangovers. Everyone else off rota hung around for only a few minutes, mostly to introduce themselves to the groomers, then they headed off.

Naturally, now that things were done, Trixie giddily returned to her conversation with Dela, having a bit of a catch up. While they weren’t regular friends, and had only really met at some vet conventions, a familiar face was exciting, and she could remember how sweet she’d been when they first met. It was only natural that she was latching on to the cheerful nurse. That, however, left Katya without anyone she knew, and she was uncertain who to approach. Chad had left to go make some notes, and she didn’t want to intrude on her friend’s catch up.

That was when she noticed someone watching her with what was either an aggressive or nervous gaze. She figured, and hoped, it was the latter, because she couldn’t think of a reason why anyone would dislike her this quickly. Wandering over to her, she noticed that they shied away a little.  
“Hey, you’re Chad’s nurse, right?” She’d been told about her when she visited last time, but seeing as she wasn’t rota-ed then, she couldn’t meet her.  
“Yeah, why?”   
“I just thought I’d come over and say hello.” The abrasiveness of the reply caught her off guard.  
“Are you hanging around for long?” Phi Phi’s tone was a little cutting, but the way she shifted from foot to foot betrayed that she was getting her back up in fear.   
“We’re going whenever Trixie’s had her fun talking to everyone, so… Yeah, probably.”

When she’d backed out of the conversation, Alyssa came over instead, apologizing for her behaviour.   
“See, Miss Phi Phi over there’s hardly a sweetheart. She might look all small and cute, but that girl’s the devil.”   
Katya couldn’t help but laugh at that, shaking her head, “She seemed scared.”  
“Trust me, she doesn’t know fear. Anyway, my name’s Alyssa Edwards,” She offered a handshake, “So, how do you and Trixie know each other?”  
“She did her training with me a couple years back, then I decided to keep her around as an assistant groomer. Sweet girl, really loud.”   
As if on cue, she laughed at something, and it almost seemed like the laugh echoed. She let her have a few minutes, finished her own conversation with Alyssa, then called over to Trixie that they had to go.

-

In spite of the wonderful meeting, today wasn’t the happiest of days. Farrah had seen Aja, who was trying hard to encourage an unwilling Brutus to amble through the door, and their chat together wasn’t as fun as the previous day’s had been. The poor dog was taking a strange turn, and his wound was oozing slightly. He’d not eaten since yesterday morning, had a fever, and wasn’t drinking. For the time being, he was in the large dog kennel, on a drip, sitting miserably while he was under observation. She’d left Alyssa in charge of the phones, wandering down to sit on the floor in front of his cage, reaching a finger through the bars to scratch his paw.

This was a part of working here that she hated. She could manage the animal death, she could even restrain in euthanasia if necessary, and she had been called in to help with a PTS before when there wasn’t a nurse there. It was seeing the heartbreak and panic in the owner’s face when they didn’t know what was wrong with their baby that got to her; it was seeing them fearing the worst. Sasha came through now to have a look at him, and crouched down at Farrah’s side, giving her a warming smile.   
“You feeling any better than this morning?”  
“A little bit, the brownie bites helped.” She laughed a little, “You want help getting him out or is a nurse coming down?”   
“You can give me a hand, thank you.”

Coaxing the large dog out of the kennel, Farrah put a slip lead around the Mastiff’s neck, and held him by the collar. It didn’t seem like the poor boy would make much of an attempt to wander off, but it was important to be careful. Sasha was checking his wound, pulling a bit of a face at it.   
“It looks like its getting infected, who seen him for the op?”   
“Chad did.”  
“Oh. Well that doesn’t make as much sense as I wanted it to. Can you go get her for me, if she’s not busy?”

Farrah went and retrieved the woman, who was just having a catch up with Alyssa and writing notes. When she explained it was about Brutus, Farrah was frustrated to be told she should stay at reception for a bit. Taking a place where she was meant to be, at the front desk and by the phone, she went to sulk. But, before she could commit to her role of having a grump about not getting to go and help, Chad explained to her that she didn’t know what the full plan was regarding him, and that the conversation might not be the most pleasant for her to stand around listening to.

When she came into prep, Chad crouched down to get a good look at the wound on the dog’s belly, also drawing the conclusion that it looked infected.   
“Did you send him home with antibiotics?”  
“Now that you mention it, I don’t think I did.” She frowned a little, “I’m not sure how that slipped past me, I normally would have for his case. We can always prescribe them now, and give him an antibiotic shot. Plus they’ve got an e-collar, and they told me they’d been bathing the wound with the hibiscrub we gave them.”  
“It just worries me, given the nature of his op.”

Taking his temperature, they made some additional notes, following up from Dela’s only half an hour ago. His fever was coming down, and he was looking a little brighter. They checked his gum colour and refill rate, and it seemed like he was starting to heal physically, though he was a little mopey about being in here again. After a short discussion about it, they decided to give him a tablespoon of food, to see if he’d try and eat it, but he turned his nose up. Not many of the pets staying here ever seemed to like the digestive support food, but it was the easiest thing for them to stomach, so it was all they were offered. Sasha scribbled on the notes that he was offered some food but rejected it.

“Actually, I remember now why I didn’t give them. They’re in a bad place, financially. It was the mother who brought him in the first time, and she was panicking over not being able to afford it.”  
“No insurance?”  
Chad shook her head, “Not anymore. When I asked her about it when I was speaking to her post op, she said they had to cancel it recently because they couldn’t afford the £60 a month they’d been paying for him anymore. And, ironically, this happens only a few weeks after they cancelled it. He’s eight years old, and a large breed, so she’d not been able to find an affordable quote.”  
“How did they pay for his op?”   
“Borrowed money from a relative, who fortunately also loves the dog.”   
“Thank God for family.”

-

“Alyssa, did you know your kids were out with us last night?” Farrah asked, smirking a little bit. She’d obviously been begged not to tell her, judging by the face she was pulling, but Laganja was refusing to pay her back for the drinks she’d bought her, and she was feeling bitter about it. That didn’t mean she had to sell the rest of them down the river, but they were facilitating this rudeness, and she wanted to show that despite being ‘a cute little thing’ that she wasn’t messing around. The Texan had a face like thunder when she turned around, brows raised. While all three of her daughters were of the legal drinking age, two of them had college, and Shangela had work.

“Now I knew those girls were lying to me but that is a surprise. Did they come out with you or did they just show up?”   
“Technically yes, because Shangela’s friends with one of Milk’s friends, and then the other two just tagged along.” Farrah shrugged a little, “And, please don’t be mad at me, but I paid for Laganja’s drinks since she forgot her card, and she’s now not paying me back.”   
“How busy we about to be?” Alyssa’s hand was digging through her bag for her phone, absolutely willing to phone her daughter up and tell her to give the money back. It was clear the other receptionist was stifling a laugh as the woman yowled, “Miss Dela!!”  
“Yes, honey?” Dela peered around from her desk.  
“Can you man the phone just a second? I need to sort something out.”

As they switched seats, Dela watched Alyssa pace over to the desks, getting ready to make a call. Fortunately, the vets were in appointments, and Phi Phi was doing a final check on Brutus, so there was no one here to tell her off for making a call or being loud.   
“Hey baby, is Ganja there? Okay, can you put her on the phone?” She’d heard the hesitation in her eldest’s voice, because she knew Laganja would be in trouble for skiving at very least, “Hey Ganja. Why aren’t you at college? You’re ill? More like hungover. Yes. I know. Now, a little birdy told me you owe money that you’re not paying back, and I’m telling you if you don’t give that money back, your phone is gone, and so’s the laptop. I don’t care that you’re an adult, you’re under my roof and I am your mother, I can take them off you if I want. So are you gonna pay Farrah back? Good girl, I’ll see you when I get home.”

Turning the corner, swapping chairs again, she smiled at the now grinning girl on the desk with her, “Sorted.”   
Leaning forward on the wood, she set her head on an outstretched arm, which Alyssa put a hand on the back of, “Thank you, if you ever need me to spill more dirt on your kids, I’ll do it.”  
“What else do you know?” Now she looked interested, leaning forward on her other hand.  
“One of Max’s friends is Laganja’s dealer, and I assume that you know about the smoking weed because she’s done snapchats smoking in her room.”  
“I knew but now I know I can make it difficult for her. I think she thinks I don’t know, like I’ve got no sense of smell or something.”   
Just as Farrah went to make a jibe, someone came through the door for an appointment.

-

In the last appointment of the day, Aja came to pick up Brutus again. They had taxi money, but were hoping that he could walk the short distance home. Hanging by the desk, they smiled warmly at Farrah, who was trying desperately to cover up the fact she was eating. One hand over her mouth, one hand trying to check Aja in as being here, and eventually, she swallowed, embarrassed to see them laughing at her.

“You’re lucky I have to be polite.” She whined.  
“Like you could come off rude? You’re the sweetest little thing.”  
Her cheeks flushed, and she grumbled, “You barely know me. I could be a bitch for all you know.”   
“Sure. Anyway, how’s my boy?”  
“A bit on the mend, but Chad wants to talk to you about him before you go. You can go take a seat if you want, she’s just giving him a once over now.”   
“Nah, I’ll wait here, unless you’re meant to be doing something?”  
“Not until you’re gone,” She went back on herself, “I mean, I still have to cash up. But I can’t do that until you’re gone.”

Farrah was completely flustered, looking between the screen and Aja, tapping her nails on the desk. She didn’t have much to say, though she wanted desperately to maintain some conversation. But, they were almost intimidating, quick witted and cheeky, and even as they stood there, watching pink nails near enough hammering at the desk, they looked quite smug. It looked like they found her embarrassment kind of funny, but were biting back any unnecessary teasing.

“You’re off til Monday, right?” Aja asked, leaning forward on a palm and glancing down at her.  
“Yeah, why?”   
“Just wondered. You told me the days you worked. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.”  
She gave a nervous laugh, “Well, thanks for remembering. I didn’t think you would.”   
“How could I forget?” That, and a wink, were what she left Farrah with before being called in by Chad. Once again, Aja had left her feeling a little ruffled, and was clearly quite chuffed with themself for it. Pawing through the till, she sighed, not wanting to cash up at all. Even though Brutus’ post op check would be free, it was likely he was being given antibiotics, and that would cost. When Alyssa came back into the office, she near enough begged her to do it instead.

“I’ll cash up only if you do all those dishes everyone’s left in the kitchen from the meeting.”   
Groaning, Farrah shoved herself back in the chair, getting up with a stomp. That was better than having to count money over and over to make sure it matched up with what the computer said was there, but it was still a terrible, boring job. Plus, now she probably wouldn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Brutus (and his owner). No doubt they’d be back soon enough anyway - that dog had to get a lot of check ups.

It took a full twenty minutes to clear all the mess in the kitchen, and just as she was tipping the basin of water into the sink, a familiar ‘click, click’ of claws sounded on the vinyl flooring. A large muzzle pushed through the gap in the door, and all of a sudden, the lumbering mastiff was in the kitchen with her. He came to stand against her, sighing loudly, as though the walk from the reception to here was exhausting. Aja, after a moments delay, noticed that their dog had disappeared, and called for him. Farrah laughed a little when he just walked off towards the fridge.

Gently seizing his collar, the receptionist lead the dog back out to his owner, smiling up as Aja rolled their eyes.   
“Thought you were about to die this morning, and you’re out here giving me all this cheek?” They teased, ruffling one of the panting pooch’s ears before clipping on his leash. Turning to Alyssa, they resumed the important detail, “Slight hitch on the payment front. I have just enough to pay for his antibiotics, but I would have to walk him home, do you think he’ll be alright?”  
“How far’s the walk?” Sasha called from her seat, coming through to answer properly.  
“Only like five, ten minutes. I’ve only got enough for a couple days worth of antibiotics, but Chad said that was all fine. Mum’ll come pay for the rest tomorrow probably.”   
“If you walk him slowly, then he should be alright. He’s a lot brighter than he was this morning.”

Farrah mused on an idea, but tried to consider if it would be deemed unprofessional to offer. When she considered that she knew Aja’s address anyway from seeing it on the system, and had helped on a house visit in the past, her offer didn’t feel too invasive.  
“I can run you home with him, if you want? He’d fit in the back of my car, and if it’s only a couple minutes to get there, it’s no hassle.”  
“You sure?” Aja looked between Farrah, and the people behind the desk.  
“Should be fine, shouldn’t it?”   
Sasha nodded, before turning to Aja, “Are you alright waiting for a couple minutes? We just need to finish up, then it’s hometime.”   
“Sure thing.”

Normally, Sasha would have said that she could go now, but she had an announcement to make. It was hard to finish on her notes, as concentrating was growing a little difficult. Everyone would be in this room soon enough, or at least, near the room, and then she could say it. When she finished writing up the notes for a dog she’d seen that day, Chad came through, tailed by Phi Phi. Then, a few minutes later, Dela came into the room, having finally finished her call (or rather, debate) with one of their medication suppliers. With Alyssa at the desk, and Farrah called back over, that made for everyone on this shift being here.

“So, I have some exciting news. It would have been nice if Shea could have come in to give it with me, but she’s working late.”  
At some point in this, Aja and Brutus had snuck over, taking a place beside Farrah.  
“I didn’t want to say until it was all confirmed, but now it has been,” The woman swallowed hard, before smiling, “Shea and I applied to an adoption agency, and we were approved! We’re now on the waitlist for a child.”

The office near enough exploded into cheers, and there were a lot of exchanged hugs. Even Aja, a stranger in this situation, was tearing up. No one here had known about it, as the referees were picked as a family member, and people outside of both of their jobs. Both Sasha and Shea agreed that they didn’t want anyone to talk about it to them until it was all confirmed. But now, it was just a waiting game, and as long as there was a child to be given to them that the agency deemed a good match, they were definitely getting one.

That news was well timed, as everyone was pretty much ready to go. Once the building was locked up, and they were outside in the open space, there were more hugs, more excited wishes, and then finally, goodbyes.   
Farrah lead Aja over to her car, hoisting Brutus up into the backseat as carefully as they could before they set off. It was a really short drive, and it was the opposite way to the direction she had to drive home in, but it wasn’t a big deal. She helped Aja to get the canine back out, and walked to the door with them, mostly because they were caught in a chat.

“No doubt we’ll be back on Monday, so see you then?”   
“See ya!” Farrah was embarrassed by the enthusiasm in her response, and she made her way back to the car. As she went to drive off, she noticed Aja waiting by their door still, and grinned as they waved a goodbye. When she pulled out from the curb, they went into the house.


End file.
